Katie Bell: Socially Inept
by Deadly Poppy
Summary: Katie Bell was born to play Quidditch. She was build for Quidditch. She was good at Quidditch. But you know what they say about too much of a good thing. And Katie's about to learn that life isn't all about Quidditch.
1. Preface

**Yes, another Katie Bell story. She is such a great empty slate. No past, no description, just enough of an outline to be useful. I love writing about her!  
**

* * *

Katie Bell was born small.

Contrary to Fred and George's constant implying that she was shrinking, Katie was always tinier than everyone else.

Born premature at four pounds, five ounces, it was debated whether or not she would even live, but she pulled through it. She was a very spirited and determined person, even at that age.

Katie was the youngest in her family. With four older brothers, she was both highly protected and mercilessly tormented. Brendan, seventeen years older than her, Harvey, fifteen, Tristen, thirteen, and Jenson eleven. Katie was the family "surprise", born right at the end of the war.

The war that would claim her parents lives when she was only a year old.

Our story begins here, like so many other stories, with a tragedy.

* * *

**If I owned Harry Potter, would I be writing fanfiction? Huh? Would I? No.**


	2. First Broom

Katie's Mother was a witch, and her father was a muggle. The day a Death Eater murdered them, Katie was a year old.

Katie's oldest brother, only eighteen, was suddenly in charge of all three of his teenage brothers, as well as his baby sister. At a loss, he searched for something he could do to make ends meet.

Unfortunately, there was only one solution. Within a month of his parents death, their father's parents came to take the Bells to live with them. Brendon Bell, desperate to keep some part of his old life, wishing there was some way he could make his parents proud, refused to let his sister be taken away.

Things weren't easy, and they lived in a one bedroom flat, with Brendon moving to sleep in the living room as Katie got older. But he loved his little sister, and they got by.

Brendon worked at Gringotts, a job he was very proud of, but it required a lot of his time. Katie grew up alone, but for her brother, and she quite liked it that way.

*********

"Brendon!" six-year-old Katie Bell screeched. "Brendon come on!"

"Come where?" her older brother asked groggily, not even bothering to open his eyes. He had worked late the previous night, and was still sleeping when the energetic little girl woke him up.

"To Diagon Alley, Silly!" she squealed, jumping up and down on his bed. "Come on, come on!"

"And why are we going to Diagon Alley?" he asked, still not thinking properly.

His question was followed by silence, which worried him. While unbelievably shy around people she didn't know, Katie never shut up around Brendan or any of her other brothers.

Slowly, Brendan forced one of his eyes open just in time to see Katie's lip tremble before she couldn't hold the tears in. and that's when it hit home.

"No, no, no!" he cried. "I was, er, just joking! Of course I know why we're going to Diagon Alley! You get to pick out your birthday present!"

Wiping away her tears, Katie looked up at her older brother with sad eyes. "You didn't forget?" she sniffed.

"Of course not," he said, hugging her. "How could I forget your birthday?"

She grinned and toppled off the bed, pulling on his feet. "Well come on then!" she cried, pulling him. "I already know what I want! It's a surprise!"

And that was how Brendan Bell found himself being pulled into a Quidditch shop by his sister and shoved in front of the broom section.

Ahem, the very _expensive_ broom section. Not that there were cheap brooms. On a scale of cheap to expensive, Katie had actually picked out one that wasn't too bad. But it was still pretty pricey.

Just as Brendan was about to tell her it would have to wait until next year, the look on Katie's face as she gazed in awe at the broom was like a punch to the stomach. Before he could change his mind, he grabbed the broom and put it on the counter.

*********

**AN: Remember: I don't own, you don't sue. This is just a little story I wanted to write, because a lot of people write Katie really differently, sometimes she's tall and outgoing, and sometimes she's small and shy. I just wanted to have a go at it.**


	3. First Friend

"Katie?" Brendan said tentatively, opening her door. It was a rare occasion that he would have to wake her up, and it was next to never without reason. Katie woke up at five in the morning and went to bed at midnight. It amazed his that she never ran out of energy.

Her blankets shifted, but eleven-year-old Katie Bell made no sign that she had heard him.

"Katie, come on, you have to get ready to go."

The blankets shifted again.

"I don't feel well," came Katie's muffled reply. "So if you could just write me a note to get me out of school this year, that would be great."

"Katie, come on!" Brendan laughed. "It's your first year at Hogwarts! It'll be exciting, I promise!"

The blankets at the front of the bed moved, which Brendan took to be Katie shaking her head. "They won't like me," she whispered, barely audible.

"Oh, so that's the problem. Katie, everyone will love you!"

"No they won't, because I'm too shy, and too short, and too ugly."

"Oh come on, you're not ugly!"

"I am!" she insisted. "I have stringy hair, and boring eyes, and I'm pale, and freckly, and short!"

"I think you're adorable," Brendan argued.

"You have to say that. You're my brother, it's the law."

Laughing, Brendan prepared to drag Katie out of her bed.

"Next year, I can play Quidditch, right?"

Brendan paused. "Yes, but you have to go to school this year first."

Katie squirmed, then popped her head out of the blankets. "I suppose I could go then, if I can play Quidditch."

"And you get to take flying lessons this year," he added. Katie, already a skilled flyer, rolled her eyes.

"Alright, let's get this over with," she muttered.

*********

Brendan couldn't figure out what the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach was. It just kept getting worse and worse, all the way to the train station, until it hit him.

With Katie gone, he didn't know what he'd do! He was so used to working, and taking care of Katie, and now he'd have too much free time. He'd be lonely!

Brendan opened his mouth to mention this, perhaps make a joke about it, but Katie was starting to look a bit green, so he decided to keep his mouth shut.

"By Katie-Kat," he said, kneeling next to her to give her a hug.

"B-b…" but she couldn't seem to get the words out. Tears threatened to spill out of her eyes.

"Come on Kates, don't cry," he said. "Remember, be tough. You can do this."

She nodded, by didn't dare say anything for fear that words would trigger the tears.

"Just go," he said, smiling. "Get on the train and go to school, and I'll be waiting right here when you get back."

"Right here?" she repeated.

He nodded. "Right here."

And with that, Katie made her way onto the train.

*********

Taking a deep breath, Katie Bell searched for a compartment to sit in. it was harder than it looked. Most of them were full, or there were just one of two people, but they terrified her.

Finally, when she got to the very back of the train, Katie came across a boy, about fourteen, totally immersed in some type of notebook, who didn't even notice Katie open the door.

In a desperate attempt to ask if she could sit there, Katie found herself making some sort of squeaky noise. The boy, however, didn't seem to notice that she hadn't formed any coherent words, and instead looked shocked that anyone wanted to sit with him.

"Of course, go ahead!" he said, a bit too loudly, probably thinking she has asked to sit there, which was what she had intended in the first place.

She made another odd squeaky noise, intended as a thank you.

The boy, seeming as though he thought he should say something, but couldn't decide between sounding like an idiot or going back to his notebook and seeming rude. He settled for the former.

"First year?"

Katie nodded. Nodding was safe.

"So, er, what house do you suppose you'll be in?"

Katie opened her mouth to respond, then closed it. She opened it again, the snapped it shut. She opened it one more time and decided to either say something or sit there like a gaping fish all day. "My whole family's been in Gryffindor," she said quietly. "But I think I'll be in Hufflepuff. Maybe Ravenclaw."

"Oh," was his brilliant reply. "I'm Oliver. Oliver wood."

"Katie Bell."

There was an awkward silence. "What are you reading?" Katie asked, feeling quite brave for initiating conversation.

"Oh, I'm uh…" Oliver's face turned red. "Quidditch Throughout the Ages," he mumbled quietly.

"Really?" Katie asked, unable to control the widening of her eyes.

Oliver noticed. "Yeah," he said suspiciously. "You don't think that's weird?"

"Not at all!" she said, then turned red and shrank down into her seat.

"Oh," Oliver said, startled by her momentary confidence. "I'm in Gryffindor," he said out of nowhere.

"Really?" Katie asked. "I wish I could be in Gryffindor."

"I'm sure you could be," Oliver said encouragingly.

Katie just shook her head sadly. "I'm not brave enough."

"Of course you are," Oliver said. "If I am, anyone is."

And with that, they settled into a comfortable silence, broken frequently by Oliver reading aloud a bit from Quidditch Throughout the Ages to Katie, the first person who would talk to him about Quidditch and not tell him to shut up.


End file.
